Alexander Selkirk
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Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited is
Clad in goatskins, Selkirk awaits rescue in a sculpture by Thomas Stuart Burnett (1885)
The rescued Selkirk, seated at right, being taken aboard Duke.
An illustration of Crusoe in goatskin clothing shows the influence of Selkirk
Title page from The Life and Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe (1835), by an unknown author
Robinson Crusoe
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Robinson Crusoe is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. It is often credited as marking the beginning of realistic fiction as a literary genre, and has been de
Alexander Selkirk
…island. His story of survival was widely publicized after his return and became one of the reputed sources of inspiration for the fictional character Robinson Crusoe of the English writer Daniel Defoe. Alexander Selkirk was the son of a shoemaker and tanner in Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland, born in 1676. In his youth…
Title page from the first edition
![The route taken by Robinson Crusoe over the Pyrenees mountains in chapters 19 and 20 of Defoe's novel, as envisaged by Joseph Ribas [fr]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Robinson_Crusoe%27s_route_across_the_Pyrenees_mountains.jpg/500px-Robinson_Crusoe%27s_route_across_the_Pyrenees_mountains.jpg)
The route taken by Robinson Crusoe over the Pyrenees mountains in chapters 19 and 20 of Defoe's novel, as envisaged by Joseph Ribas [fr]